Summer Music Tips ~ Keep Music as a part of your Summer

With warmer weather and longer days, the temptation increases to leave the piano practice aside! Being from northern Ontario, we know that our days of summer are all too short and sweet, so we take advantage of them while we can! For anyone who’s taken lessons before, they know that if they spend the whole summer not practicing, there’s going to be a lot of re-learning in September. Not the best plan for the aspiring music student. Summer music lessons are the best option to keep those piano skills sharp, but if you’re not able to do that, here are some tips for keeping music in your summer.

1. Backyard BBQ concerts ~ Put away the ipod dock and speakers and provide musical entertainment for your next outdoor part on a REAL instrument. If you play guitar, flute, or another “mobile” instrument serenade your guests with live dinner music. Even the piano players can get in on this one. A digital piano is easily moved outside and powered up with an extension chord. If that’s not an option, download a piano app on your tablet, and play away the right hand melody of your favourite piece you learned this past year. Your guests will be impressed that you went the extra mile to create an awesome outdoor atmosphere complete with a personal concert.

2. Don’t practice… PLAY ~ Think of your summer music making as “play” instead of “practice”. Only play your favourite pieces. Memorize them, so when you are at your friends’ house for a sleepover, you can impress them with your musical skills. Summer practicing is not so much about learning new music, but about keeping the techniques you’ve acquired over the year fresh. That means just playing your instrument. No matter what you play, it’s beneficial!

3. Make your road trip musical with some apps ~ Most of us have some sort of tablet, ipod, iphone, electronic device, etc… Before that summer road trip to visit grandma and grandpa, download some music game apps and spend those long hours in the car working on rhythm this app. There’s a lot of super fun apps that are educational too! It’s a win win! Of course, road trips are always great times to crank up the tunes, roll down the windows, and just SING at the top of your lungs!! :). Singing is always a great way to keep music as a part of your daily routine.

By following these few tips, you can keep music in your summer and also not have to worry about relearning so much material when your return to your regular music lesson in the fall!! Enjoy 🙂